WEEK 44 OF YOP 12

 Week 44!  Yikes, this year has flown by.  April 2023 is just about in the books and May 2023 is on the horizon.  My crafting this week was practically nonexistent.  

This is truly pitiful.  I only did 12 rows all week.  There were only 2 days, this past week, I even picked this up.  Very sad.

Does anyone remember this?

I put in a few hours on it this week and got most of the black on it.  The rest of the black will be lettering and backstitching.  It was nice to pull it back out and give it some love.

So why was my craft time limited?  I have no idea.  I had 3 evenings out but other than that, it was a normal week with normal household chores.  In the evenings that I was home, I found myself engrossed in a few very suspenseful TV shows.  Those are not good for knitting lace and very bad for trying to XS.  Maybe this week will be better for my projects.  Time will tell.

Otherwise, nothing else major happened.  We did have 2 grandkids drop by last Sunday for a lovely visit.  It made us feel so good to have them just drop in like that.  We must be the cool grandparents LOL.  I spent quite a bit of time this week trying to revive my sourdough starter.  As of this morning, it is super active and in the process of making a lovely boule of sourdough for us.  Note to self:  Do not let starter sit on counter for 3 days without feeding in warm weather!  GROSS!

I also am learning on how to cook on a Blackstone Griddle.  It is a bit of a learning curve but I am loving cooking on it.  It keeps the heat out of the kitchen too.  Today's offering from the griddle will be carne asada with homemade sourdough tortillas.  YUM!

OK, that is about all I can think to tell y'all.  Like I said, it was a fairly normal week here.  Oh, we have already hit 100F!  Looks like summer is just around the corner with it's beastly hot temperatures. Swimming season is soon to start!

How was your week?

Until Next Time....................Happy Crafting!!!!!!!!!!!!

WEEK 43 OF YOP 12

 

It has been a very unusual week here.  Luckily I was still able to get some knitting done on my shawl.

From the progress keeper upwards is my progress for the week.  I am almost at the halfway point which doesn't mean it will be done soon.  There are 217 stitches on the needles and it stops at 481.  I would be further along but have needed to tink back 2-3 rows several times this week.  Evidently setting this down for the night and then me thinking I know what pattern row I am on, without writing it down, is not a good thing.  I now have a sticky note attached to the pattern to keep me informed.  Also, watching intense TV while knitting lace is not a good idea either.  Good thing I enjoy knitting this or I might have given up by now.

That is all I did craftwise this week.  In other news.................................

Both of my sons were out of town this past week.  One for business and the other for a family funeral.  I was privileged to take care of the dogs for the one attending the family duties.

This is Bandit.  If you look really hard, you can see his sister, Shiloh, in the kennel waiting for him to finish eating so they can go outside and play.  She is all black other than her feet.  Yes they are true litter mates and couldn't be more different from each other.  These are the ones that moved here from TX.  Very good doggos and I love taking care of them.

Everyone is back where they belong and this momma is glad to have her cubs back home.  It doesn't matter how old they get, they will always be my little ones.

We had another very dear friend leave the earth this week.  She passed on Monday and the funeral was on Saturday.  She was 85 and had one of the fullest lives of anyone I know.  Not to mention she was one of the sweetest persons too.  Never heard her say anything negative about anyone.  Always had a glass half full.

Enrique had a day where he wouldn't eat.  I got a bit concerned as he is a voracious eater.  But, the next day he was back to his normal self.  Phew!  

He loves to try and 'hide' in this bed.  It sits under our entertainment center.  

I have tried some new things in the cooking department.  Since we got the Blackstone griddle I have made a couple of things on it to get used to it.  I made pancakes and then hamburgers.   Both were a success.  I plan on making several meals on it this coming week.  So nice to be outside cooking and not heating up the house.  (We are already in the 90's!)

Quite a while ago, I ordered 5 inch cast iron skillets from Pampered Chef.  This week I finally decided to try and make pazookies in them.

This is a sourdough chocolate cookie recipe written especially for these little skillets.  The pazookies are very yummy but extremely rich.  I cut each cookie into quarters and that is still almost too much.  It's ok.  We will suffer through LOL.

Friday, Hubby and I decided to take the day off from all our household duties and took a trip to the our Premium Outlet Mall.  It was so much fun and gorgeous warm day to be out and walking around all the shops.  I did come home with a few new Vera Bradly bags as well as a new pair of 'dress' shoes.  Hubby got himself a new pair of 'dress' shoes.  All of my shoes are flats due to foot surgery that left my feet unable to wear heels.  They also have RA in them so finding shoes to accommodate that is not easy.  When I find a shoe that fits and feels good I grab them immediately.  The pair I got Friday fit the bill.  Good thing too since I needed them for the Funeral on Saturday.  Hubby refuses to wear anything that needs 'breaking in' so his dress shoes are not stiff leather but rather soft leather and very flexible. Also not easy to find that are not sneaker looking type shoes.

So, that sums up our week.  I made out menus today as well as a grocery list.  The rest of the day will be spent kicking back and working on the shawl until time to make dinner.  (salmon with roasted asparagus and crescent rolls)

Until Next Time............................Happy Crafting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WEEK 42 OF YEAR 12

 

Hey there!  Here is what happened this past week here.

I cast on a new project!

The Mehujaa Shawl is started.  It is being knit in Scheejpes Whirlette in colorway Ice.  The photo does not do it justice.  It is actually closer to an eggshell color.  I love this shawl and the knit pattern is pretty easy to memorize.  If you notice some small 'holes' in the stockinette area, have no fear.  This yarn has some thicker areas in it and hence the little holes are made while knitting away.  This is all I have worked on this week.  Until this is completed, it will most likely be my only project.  Yes, I still have a sock going but it is sitting off to the side at the moment.  I am sure it understands LOL.

Last Sunday my home was filled with family.  After they all left, I realized I had not taken one photo!  I was enjoying having everyone at my home, I just flat out forgot.  There was so much laughter and love.  My heart was filled to the top by the time the day was over.  

Here is the photo taken the day after.

My Sister in Law and her friend brought me this lily.  Isn't it gorgeous?  I still have 2 blooms on it but have a feeling by tomorrow it will be ready to go dormant for a while.  I am going to research on how I can keep this alive until it is time for it bloom again.  

I have one more photo for you:

Josie's Senior prom was last night.  This is her and her beau of over a year.  They are such a cute couple and really compliment each other.  He is a super nice guy and a gentleman too.  Once again this year, her dad acted as their chauffer.

The kids love it that he 'dresses' the part too.  

The lady on the far right, is one of Josie's best friends.  She does a lot of things with Josie and her beau.

This is how the evening goes when Dad chauffer's the 'royalty'.  It is in slow motion.

That's it for my week.  How was yours?

Until Next Time....................Happy Crafting!!!!!!!!!!!

WEEK 41 OF YOP 12

 

Blessings on this Glorious Easter morning.  I had a little bit of time before we started getting things set up for the influx of family arriving this afternoon.  So, what do you do with extra time?  Blog!  

I have an FO for this week.

My hands have finally settled down where I can work with super bulky yarn again.  That means Jaxon will get her second slipper today!  She is still in her boot from her foot surgery so I am sure this will get some wear.  It only took me two days to complete this.  Gotta love super bulky yarn!

I am still working on hubby's sock. 

The lone DPN is about where I was last week.  It is slow going.  Probably because I only work on it in bits and spurts.  Since our temperatures are heading into the 90's this week, I am not thinking he is going to need a long wool sock anytime soon.

Last week I talked about not feeling the urge to really knit much.  Well, this week my mojo has returned and I am wanting to cast on all things.  What I really wanted to make was another shawl.  But not just any shawl.  My favorite shawl.

I have made this shawl twice.  It is the shawl I use  when I need just a little bit of warmth.  Like, when the air conditioning is turned on full blast and I sit right under the vents.  Yup, it happened to me twice last week.  Thank goodness I carry this shawl in my purse when going out and about.  My problem was, I did not have anymore yarn with which to make this shawl.  No problem!

I will just order some.  Normally I make this shawl with Scheepjes whirl.  I was thrilled when I saw Scheepjes makes solid colors of this same yarn.  This off white (colorway Ice) and will go with everything my other two do not.  I am hoping to cast it on tomorrow.

The other acquisition we got this week was this:

A Blackstone Griddle.  This will be so nice to cook on outside so as not to heat up the house this summer.  Pool side cooking is wonderful.  

This past week has been a bit trying for us.  Sunday evening our kitchen sink backed up.  We tried everything other than chemicals to open it to no avail.  So, Monday we scrambled to find a plumber.  Not only did we find a plumbing company but also one that does electrical and water treatments.

After the plumber got the drain opened by scouring out our pipes, we discovered our dishwasher was not working and the drain had backed up into that!  Oh brother!  Called another company who works with appliance repairs.  Got him scheduled for Wednesday.

On Tuesday, we had a water softener installed.  We have the hardest water in the entire USA!  Not something we are very proud of.  All our faucets heads have horrible build up of white calcium on them which needs to be cleaned off about every 6 months.  Needless to say, hubby and I do not drink our tap water but do have an RO system installed for drinking purposes.  So, now with the water softener, we should not have these issues anymore.  Not to mention, we will be using less shampoo, soap and other cleaning supplies with soft water.

Wednesday the appliance dude came out, plugged the dishwasher back in and ta-da, it worked immediately!  Naturally!  He did run it through a couple of programs to make sure everything was perfect and then handed me the service call bill.  I was happy to pay it.  Better than buying a new dishwasher!

Everything is working just fine now.  Hubby and I got the house cleaned and ready for guests.  We attended our church's triduum (three holy days) starting Thursday night and ending Saturday night. All we have left to do is open up the diningroom table, ready our countertops for buffet style serving and then sit back and enjoy our day with family.

I hope your week went well and your Easter season is blessed beyond measure.

Until Next Time...........................Happy Crafting!!!!!!!!!!!!

WEEK 40 of YEAR 12

 

Hey there.  I missed blogging last week.  Nothing is wrong with me physically.  I just have been in a bit of a crafting slump as you will see from what I have to show you this week.

The lap blanket is finished as of 3/22.

It is super soft and squishy.  It was a wonderful mindless knit.

After I bound off, I thought I would start working on gnomes.  As I was stash diving for just the right yarn for that project, I ran across some lovely yarn I purchase a while back and decided to make a pair of socks for hubby.

Here is the Scatterby Sock.  As you can see I have not really accomplished much in 2 weeks time of knitting monogamously.  My crafting mojo is kind of on vacation.  Maybe it has spring fever.  

The only other thing I did was throw away the granny stripe scrap blanket in fingering weight yarn.  I just could not love it.  Everytime I saw it I would quickly shove it back into the back of the bin it sits in hoping it would just disappear.  So POOF!  It is now gone!

Otherwise, things are pretty normal around here.  I have been baking, cleaning, and decluttering.  I will be hosting Easter dinner at our home this year with a total of 15 people enjoying the day with us.  With all of that happening, I am not sure I will posting here.  I am just hoping I remember to take pictures of the event to commemorate the day.

Until Next Time....................Happy Crafting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!